MESSENGER: BISHOP J. O. LAWSON:     

SCRIPTURE:  LUKE 2:40-52

FINDING FAVOR WITH THE RIGHT PEOPLE IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR SUCCESS IN THIS WORLD WHETHER YOU ARE FINDING FAVOR WITH PARENTS TO GAIN CERTAIN PRIVILEGES, FINDING FAVOR WITH EMPLOYERS TO GAIN BONUSES AND PROMOTIONS, FINDING FAVOR WITH THE RICH AND POWERFUL TO GAIN ADVANTAGES, OPPORTUNITIES  AND PERKS, AND/OR FINDING FAVOR WITH ONE’S PEERS TO GAIN ACCEPTANCE AND CAMARADERIE. LIFE CAN BE VERY UNPLEASANT AND UNPRODUCTIVE IF ONE DOES NOT FIND FAVOR WITH SOMEBODY IN THIS WORLD.

ONE MIGHT WONDER HOW ONE FINDS FAVOR WITH PEOPLE—ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO ARE IMPORTANT TO HIS/HER WELL BEING AND HAPPINESS.  TO FIND FAVOR WITH PEOPLE, I THINK ONE MUST DO THE FOLLOWING:

1.  ONE MUST SHOW ONESELF FRIENDLY TO OTHERS.
2. ONE MUST SHOW ONESELF HELPFUL TO OTHERS.
3. ONE MUST SHOW ONESELF TO BE UNSELFISH, FAIR, AND HONEST.
4. ONE MUST BE WILLING TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR FAILURES, ACKNOWLEDGING ERRORS, AND REPENTING FOR AND ASKING PARDON FOR TRANSGRESSIONS AGAINST OTHERS, NO MATTER HOW SMALL OR SLIGHT.
5. ONE MUST BE REASONABLY WELL GROOMED AND REASONABLY CLEAN, BEING PARTICULARLY CAREFUL ABOUT DENTAL HYGIENE AND PERSONAL HYGIENE.
6. ONE MUST SHOW ONESELF TO BE REASONABLY INDUSTRIOUS, HARD WORKING, AND DEPENDABLE.
7. ONE MUST BE WILLING TO SHARE HIS/HER SUCCESS WITH OTHERS AND TO COMMEND OTHERS FOR THEIR SUCCESSES.
8. ONE MUST BE COMPLEMENTARY WITHOUT FLATTERING.
9. ONE MUST SHOW CONCERN FOR OTHERS IN THEIR DIFFICULTIES AND MISFORTUNES, SHOWING AND EXPRESSING EMPATHY, REMEMBERING THAT EVERYONE MAY EXPERIENCE DIFFICULTIES AND MISFORTUNES AT TIMES.
10. AND FINALLY, ONE MUST IN GENERAL SHOW LOVE FOR PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO MATTER THE MOST TO HIMSELF/HERSELF. 

IN MY LIFETIME, I FOUND THAT THESE TEN THINGS WORKED FOR ME, NOT THAT I DILIGENTLY ADHERED TO ALL OF THEM AT ALL TIMES, BUT USUALLY I DID.  I FEEL THAT IF ALL OF US DO THE ABOVE TEN THINGS, WE WILL FIND FAVOR WITH PEOPLE AND WE WILL BE SUCCESSFUL IN THIS WORLD, FINDING SUCCESS WITH WHICH WE CAN BE HAPPY AND CONTENT, BEING ABLE TO REALIZE, ACTUALIZE, AND OPTIMIZE OUR GOD GIVEN POTENTIAL.

     ONE MIGHT ALSO WONDER HOW ONE MIGHT FIND FAVOR WITH GOD.  I THINK THAT FINDING FAVOR WITH GOD SHOULD BE OF MORE IMPORTANCE TO US THAN FINDING FAVOR WITH PEOPLE.  WHEN I THOUGHT ABOUT HOW WE MIGHT FIND FAVOR WITH GOD, I THOUGHT ABOUT CERTAIN STANDOUT CHARACTERS IN THE BIBLE AND HOW IT WAS THAT THEY FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD.  I AM NOT JUST TALKING ABOUT GRACE WHICH WE DEFINE AS GOD’S UNMERITED FAVOR TOWARD US, A GIFT OF GOD, BY WHICH WE MAY BE AND ARE SAVED.  MANY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN AND ARE SAVED, BUT I DID NOT AND DO NOT SEE THEM HAVING HAD OR HAVING ANY PARTICULAR OUTSTANDING FAVOR WITH GOD.  NOAH FOUND SALVATION GRACE DURING THE FLOOD, BUT GOT DRUNK AFTERWARDS, SHAMING

HIMSELF AND DISPLEASING GOD.  LOT HAD SALVATION GRACE IN SODOM AND GOMORRAH, BUT I DO NOT SEE WHERE HE HAD ANY GREAT FAVOR WITH GOD, SINCE HE GOT DRUNK AND HAD CHILDREN BY HIS OWN DAUGHTERS.  DAVID HAD SALVATION GRACE, AND SOME SAY THAT HE WAS A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART, BUT DAVID FAILED GOD OFTEN.  GOD WOULD NOT EVEN LET DAVID BUILD HIM A HOUSE.   I DON’T HAVE TIME TO RUN DOWN EVERY BIBLICAL CHARACTER WHO HAD SALVATION GRACE, BUT DID NOT HAVE ANY GREAT FAVOR WITH GOD, OR TO RUN DOWN EVERY BIBLICAL CHARACTER THAT DID HAVE SALVATION GRACE AND GREAT FAVOR WITH GOD.  BUT I THOUGHT I WOULD SHARE WITH YOU A FEW BIBLICAL EXAMPLES WHO HAD SALVATION GRACE AND GREAT FAVOR WITH GOD.  I THOUGHT THAT I MIGHT TELL YOU OF THEM AND SEE WHAT IT WAS THAT THEY DID TO FIND SUCH GREAT FAVOR WITH GOD, SO THAT WE MIGHT USE THEM AS OUR SPECIAL EXAMPLES.  YOU SEE, I, MYSELF, WOULD LIKE TO HAVE GREAT FAVOR WITH GOD, AND I WANT TO LOOK AT THE BEST EXAMPLES I CAN GET.  THESE EXAMPLES I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU TODAY WHO HAD SALVATION GRACE AND GREAT FAVOR WITH GOD ARE: ENOCH, ABRAHAM, MOSES, SAMUEL, MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS, AND JESUS HIMSELF. 

     THE BIBLE SAYS THAT ENOCH 1) WALKED WITH GOD, 2) GOT MARRIED, AND 3) HAD CHILDREN.  BUT ENOCH WALKED WITH GOD SO WELL THAT GOD DECIDED THAT HE WAS TOO GOOD TO LIVE ON EARTH AS LONG AS MANY OF HIS PREDECESSORS SUCH AS 800 YEARS, 900 YEARS, ETC.  THE BIBLE SAYS THAT ENOCH STARTED HAVING CHILDREN AT 65 YEARS OF AGE, THE FIRST ONE BEING METHUSELAH.  THEN HE WALKED WITH GOD 300 YEARS AFTER BEGETTING METHUSELAH.  GOD THEN DECIDED THAT ENOCH WAS TOO GOOD FOR THIS WORLD TO STAY ANY LONGER THAN 365 YEARS AND TRANSLATED HIM TO

ANOTHER WORLD WITHOUT HIS EVER EXPERIENCING DEATH.  IT SEEMS THAT THE KEY TO ENOCH’S RECEIVING SUCH FAVOR WITH GOD WAS TO WALK WITH GOD.

ABRAHAM FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD.  THE BIBLE SAYS THAT ABRAHAM WAS CALLED THE FRIEND OF GOD.  THAT IS WHAT JAMES SAID (JAMES 2:23).  YOU SEE, ABRAHAM WAS WILLING TO GIVE BACK TO GOD WHATEVER GOD HAD GIVEN HIM—TO INCLUDE HIS OWN SON.  HE HAD FAITH AND LIVED BY FAITH.

MOSES FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD.  ALTHOUGH MOSES WAS A STRONG, WELL TRAINED, WELL EDUCATED MAN, COULD DEFEND THE WEAK WITH HIS GREAT PHYSICAL STRENGTH AND MIGHT AND USE HIS KNOWLEDGE AND PERSONAL UPBRINGING TO LORD IT OVER PEOPLE, THE BIBLE SAYS (NUMBERS 12:3) THAT MOSES WAS THE MEEKEST MAN ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH.

SAMUEL FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD.  SAMUEL WALKED WITH GOD FROM THE TIME HE WAS PROBABLY THREE YEARS OLD.  THE BIBLE SAYS (I SAMUEL 3:19) THAT GOD WOULD NOT LET ANY OF HIS WORDS FALL TO THE GROUND.  IN OTHER WORDS, WHATEVER SAMUEL SAID GOD WOULD BRING TO PASS.  SAMUEL HAD FAVOR WITH GOD.

MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD.  THE ARCHANGEL GABRIEL SAID SO SAID WHEN HE APPEARED TO MARY, TELLING HER SHE HAD BEEN SELECTED BY GOD TO BEAR JESUS INTO THE WORLD.  IN FACT, THE ANGEL TOLD MARY THAT SHE WAS HIGHLY FAVORED, THE LORD WAS WITH HER, AND THAT SHE WAS BLESSED AMONG WOMEN.  WHAT DID MARY DO TO GAIN SUCH FAVOR WITH GOD?  SHE LIVED AN EXEMPLARY LIFE OF HOLINESS AND DID NOT GET INVOLVED IN THIS PREMARITAL SEX THING AS A YOUNG, TEENAGE WOMAN.  

 WE KNOW THAT JESUS FOUND FAVOR WITH GOD.  THE BIBLE SAYS SO IN THE SCRIPTURE THAT WE READ TODAY.  WHAT DID JESUS DO TO FIND FAVOR WITH GOD.  WELL, THE SCRIPTURE WE READ SAID THAT AS A YOUNG PERSON JESUS GREW STRONG IN SPIRIT AND  WAS FILLED WITH WISDOM.  THEN THE BIBLE SHOWS HOW HE WAS STRONG IN SPIRIT.  HE WAS DETERMINED IN MIND TO BE ABOUT HIS FATHER’S BUSINESS, GOD’S BUSINESS.  THE BIBLE FURTHER STATES IN THE SCRIPTURE WE READ THAT AS JESUS GREW UP, HE WAS SUBJECT TO HIS PARENTS AND HE CONDUCTED HIMSELF IN SUCH A WAY AS TO INCREASE IN WISDOM AND STATURE, AND IN FAVOR WITH GOD AND MAN.  LATER ON, THE BIBLE LETS US KNOW THAT JESUS WAS DETERMINED THAT GOD’S WILL BE DONE IN HIS LIFE, NOT HIS OWN WILL.

FROM THESE EXAMPLES GIVEN, WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GAIN FAVOR WITH GOD BEYOND SALVATION GRACE:

1. LIKE ENOCH, ONE MUST WALK WITH GOD.
2. LIKE ABRAHAM, ONE MUST TRY TO BE A FRIEND OF GOD AND BE WILLING TO GIVE BACK TO GOD WHATEVER HE MAY ASK OF US.  ONE MUST LIVE BY FAITH IN GOD.

1. LIKE MOSES, ONE MUST BE MEEK.
2. LIKE SAMUEL, ONE MUST MAKE ONE’S WALK WITH GOD A LIFELONG THING.
3. LIKE MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS, ONE MUST LIVE A CLEAN, HOLY, AND SEPARATED LIFE FROM THE SINS OF THE WORLD, PARTICULARLY THE SEXUAL SINS.

1. AND LIKE JESUS, ONE MUST BE STRONG IN SPIRIT TO DO GOD’S WILL, AND CONDUCT ONE’S LIFE SO AS TO GROW IN WISDOM AND STATURE, AND IN FAVOR WITH GOD AND MAN, AND BE DETERMINED THAT GOD’S WILL—NOT ONE’S OWN WILL—BE DONE IN ONE’S LIFE.

I BELIEVE THAT IF WE FOLLOW THESE THINGS, NOT ONLY WILL WE HAVE SALVATION GRACE, BUT ALSO GREAT FAVOR WITH GOD.  THAT IS WHAT I WANT—FAVOR WITH GOD.

      Because of the terrorist acts of Muslim extremists and fundalmentalists against the United States on September 11, 2001, and against others via suicide bombings and other terrorist activities, I thought it might be of interest to the Saints of the Church of God in Christ (and to all Christians and all people of any persuasion) to take note of some major differences between the BIBLE of Christianity and the KORAN of Islam.  After a careful study of both the Bible and the Koran (both supposedly giving the truth of God), I have decided to share some of these major differences as I see them with all who elect to visit the holylightcogic.com website.  Some of these differences are as set forth below.

MAJOR DIFFERENCE NUMBER ONE(1)

     The BIBLE is assumed to have been revealed by God Himself via His Holy Spirit to numerous men, beginning with Moses (circa 1440 B.C.) and ending with the Apostle John (circa A.D. 90), a period of some 1,500 years.  See, for example, II Timothy 3:16.

The KORAN is assumed to have been revealed to one man, Mohammed, by an angel (generally considered to be Gabriel) from about 611 A.D. to 632 A.D., a period of some twenty years.  See, for example, Sûrah II.90-94.

MAJOR DIFFERENCE NUMBER TWO (2)

     The BIBLE DECLARES Jesus to be the only begotten Son of God and to be given all power in heaven and in earth.  He also is to judge both the living and the dead.  See, for example, Matthew 16:13-18, Acts 10:42.

      The KORAN declares that God is not the Father of any man, including Jesus, but the Creator of man, that Jesus was only a special prophet given special power of the Holy Ghost to perform miracles.  See, for example, Sûrah V.106-120.  Additionally, Mohammed wrote in the KORAN that if God had a Son, he (Mohammed) would be the first to worship him.  See, for example, Sûrah XLIII.80-84.

MAJOR DIFFERENCE NUMBER THREE (3)

     The BIBLE declares that no person can be saved except through believing in Jesus Christ and except that he/she be born of water and of the Spirit of God, making such a person a son of God, a new creature in Christ Jesus.  See, for example, John 1:10-13; 3:14-16; 8:24; II Corinthians 5:17.                                          

                        The KORAN makes no mention of being born of the Spirit of God in that the KORAN denies that God has any sons.  The KORAN indicates that believing in what Mohammed wrote in the KORAN, being resigned to God, is the way to be saved.  See, for example, Sûrah XLIV.50-59, Sûrah LXXVIII.1-40.

MAJOR DIFFERENCE NUMBER (4)

     The BIBLE declares that anyone who believes in JESUS, repents of sins, is baptized as JESUS directed, can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to be able to work miracles to God’s glory in the name of JESUS just as JESUS CHRIST was able to do.  See, for example, Mark 16:15-20; John 14:12-14; Acts 2:38-39.

     The KORAN neither admits to nor allows for men in general to receive the gift and power of the Holy Ghost to work signs such as healing the sick, casting out devils, etc.  The KORAN never mentions where Mohammed was able to work any miracles of God in the way that Jesus could or in the way that any of Jesus’ Apostles could, but that the signs of God were evident in history and in everyday life via calamities, unusual events, etc., which are attributed to God and/or angels, but not via God’s power given to men.  See, for example, Sûrah XLVI.

MAJOR DIFFERENCE NUMBER FIVE (5)

     The BIBLE  declares that God the Father (with Jesus) would dwell in true believers in Jesus Christ and lead them and direct them via the Holy Ghost in the path of righteousness by being within them.  See, for example, John 14:2-23; Acts 8:14.

     The KORAN declares that resigning oneself to the sayings of the KORAN and to God is the way to be righteous, and that there is no other way to be righteous—that, essentially, God may guide men externally via angels or via other men, but not by being within man.  See, for example, Sûrah XL.

MAJOR DIFFERENCE NUMBER (6)

     The BIBLE declares that neither is there any sexual activity, nor is there any giving in marriage, nor  is there any marriage in paradise.  See, for example, Matthew 22:23-30.

     The KORAN declares that men will have beautiful girls and sex in paradise.  See, for example, Sûrah XLIV.50-59, SÛRAH LXXVIII.1-40.

MAJOR DIFFERENCE SEVEN (7)

     According to the BIBLE, all glory, honor, and praise should go to God and to Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.   NEITHER man NOR angel should take any credit for the works of God.  Even Moses got into trouble with God when he took some glory from God via a work or miracle of God.  See, for example, Numbers 20:10-13.  Lucifer, an archangel of God, also got into trouble with God for so doing.  See, for example, Isaiah 14:12-17; Luke 10:17-20.

     In the KORAN, the revealer, supposedly (as is even indicated in the Koran) the archangel Gabriel is always taking credit and some glory for the works of God including the making of man, the sending of Moses and the prophets, and even the sending of Jesus by stating most frequently what “we” did and using the first person plural forms “us” and “our.”  See, for example, Sûrah XLIII.44-64; Sûrah XLVI.1-9.

     I hope that the above information will be of value to all readers in these last and evil days when the anti-Christ spirit fights so hard against the fact that JESUS OF NAZARETH, BORN OF THE VIRGIN MARY, IS THE CHRIST AND THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF THE LIVING GOD, and that he shall return to the earth to receive his CHURCH according to his promise.

Bishop Juan O. Lawson

TOPIC:

VISION AND POWER FOR REALIZING, ACTUALIZING, AND OPTIMIZING OUR GOD-GIVEN PRESENT AND FUTURE.

SCRIPTURES:  LUKE 12:13-21

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  THANK GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST FOR ALLOWING US TO SEE ANOTHER YEAR.  MANY WERE CALLED OUT OF THIS WORLD JUST IN THE PAST WEEK.  JUST A DAY OR TWO AGO, VERY CLOSE TO MY HOUSE, ONE YOUNG WOMAN, A TEENAGER, I BELIEVE, SEEMINGLY OBEYING THE TRAFFIC LAWS, WAITING FOR A TRAFFIC LIGHT TO CHANGE, WAS REAR ENDED BY A SPEEDING, DRUNKEN DRIVER.  THE DRUNKEN DRIVER WHO WAS IN THE WRONG SURVIVED THE COLLISION; UNFORTUNATELY, THE YOUNG WOMAN DIED NOT TOO LONG AFTER THE COLLISION.  I DON’T THINK SHE EVER SAW THE DRUNKEN DRIVER.  SHE PROBABLY HAD NO IDEA, NO VISION, OF HER IMPENDING DEATH.  NEITHER DID SHE HAVE ANY POWER WHATSOEVER TO PREVENT WHAT HAPPENED CONSIDERING WHERE SHE WAS AT THE TIME SHE WAS THERE.

ALTHOUGH THE ABOVE-MENTIONED INCIDENT WAS DIFFICULT FOR ME, I SPENT SOME TIME THINKING ABOUT IT, IT DID BRING INTO FOCUS WHAT I WANT TO TALK ABOUT—VISION AND POWER FOR REALIZING, ACTUALIZING, AND OPTIMIZING OUR GOD-GIVEN FUTURE.  EACH ONE OF US HAS A FUTURE.  WE HAVE A FUTURE ON EARTH, AND WE HAVE A FUTURE AFTER OUR EARTHLY LIVES HAVE COME TO A CONCLUSION.  GOD GIVES US OUR FUTURE.  I THINK THAT WE ALL WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT OUR FUTURE IS FOR 2008 AND BEYOND.  IN ORDER TO KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT OUR FUTURE AND TO DO WHAT IS NECESSARY TO MAKE OUR FUTURE THE BEST POSSIBLE, WE NEED TWO THINGS:  VISION AND POWER. 

VISION IS THE ABILITY TO SEE THE FUTURE, BUT ALSO, CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF, IS THE ABILITY TO SEE OR UNDERSTAND THE PAST AND THE PRESENT.  ABILITY TO SEE OR UNDERSTAND THE PAST IS NECESSARY TO PROPERLY INTERPRET AND UNDERSTAND THE PRESENT AND TO PLAN PROPERLY FOR THE FUTURE.  VISION CAN COME FROM NATURAL ABILITY, BUT THE BEST VISION COMES FROM GOD.  IF WE DON’T HAVE THE VISION THAT COME FROM GOD, WE PERISH (AS INDICATED BY PROVERBS 29:18). 

POWER IS THE ABILITY TO OVERCOME OBSTACLES THAT MIGHT PREVENT A GOOD PRESENT THAT GOD WANTS US TO HAVE AND A FUTURE THAT GOD WANTS US TO HAVE.  WE MAY HAVE NATURAL POWER, EVEN ENOUGH TO GAIN THE WHOLE WORLD.  BUT WITHOUT THE POWER THAT COMES FROM GOD, WE MAY LOSE OUR SOULS.  

LET ME SAY THIS BEFORE I CONTINUE.  NATURAL VISION COUPLED WITH NATURAL POWER MAY GAIN US MUCH NATURALLY FOR THE PRESENT AND FOR SOME UNCERTAIN FUTURE ON EARTH.  BUT SUCH A COMBINATION IS USUALLY ALMOST ALWAYS SELF-CENTERED WITH THE PERSONAL WILL DOMINATING.  SPIRITUAL VISION COUPLED WITH SPIRITUAL POWER WILL GAIN US WHAT GOD HAS FOR US NATURALLY AND SPIRITUALLY ON EARTH AND WHAT GOD HAS FOR US IN THE NEXT LIFE.

IN THE STORY WE READ, THIS MAN HAD NATURAL VISION AND NATURAL POWER.  HE SAW UNDERSTOOD ABOUT REAPING AND SOWING NATURALLY.  HE SAW UNDERSTOOD THE HISTORY OF IT.  HIS UNDERSTANDING OF IT ENABLED HIM TO OPTIMIZE HIS NATURAL PRESENT.  HE LIVED THE “GOOD LIFE.”  HE ALSO HAD NATURAL POWER.  HE USED HIS NATURAL VISION AND UNDERSTANDING COUPLED WITH HIS NATURAL POWER IN SEEING HIS NATURAL FUTURE AND PLANNING TO PROVIDE FOR HIS NATURAL FUTURE ON EARTH.  HE MADE THE MISTAKE, HOWEVER, OF RELYING ON THE ACTUARY TABLES, CONSIDERING AVERAGE LIFE SPANS ON EARTH, VISUALIZING AND THINKING THAT HE HAD A LOT MORE TIME TO LIVE ON EARTH, CONSIDERING HIS GOOD HEALTH, GENETIC MAKE-UP, FAMILY HISTORY, MEDICAL CARE AND INSURANCE, ETC.  BUT HE MADE WHAT HAPPENED TO BE A FATAL ERROR.  HE LEFT GOD OUT OF HIS PLANS, AND GOD CALLED HIM ON IT BY SAYING TO HIM, “THOU FOOL, THIS NIGHT THY SOUL SHALL BE REQUIRED OF THEE: THEN WHOSE SHALL THOSE THINGS BE, WHICH THOU HAST PROVIDED?  SO IS HE THAT LAYETH UP TREASURE FOR HIMSELF, AND IS NOT RICH TOWARD GOD.”

I WANT US TO CONCENTRATE ON RECEIVING AND UTILIZING VISION AND POWER THAT GOD HAS FOR US.  THEN WE CAN REALIZE, ACTUALIZE, AND OPTIMIZE OUR GOD-GIVEN PRESENT AND FUTURE. 

IF WE SEEK AND RECEIVE THE VISION THAT GOD WILL GIVE US, THE FOLLOWING WILL HAPPEN:

1. WE WILL SEE THE PAST, THE PRESENT, AND THE FUTURE THE WAY GOD SEES THEM.  GOD WILL GIVE US PROPHECY.  GOD WILL GIVE US UNDERSTANDING.  GOD WILL GIVE US DISCERNMENT.  GOD WILL GIVE US WISDOM.  GOD WILL GIVE US KNOWLEDGE.  GOD WILL LEAD US VIA HIS HOLY SPIRIT INTO ALL TRUTH.  JUST CONSIDER THE GIFTS OF GOD’S HOLY SPIRIT. 
2. WE WILL BE MOTIVATED TO ACT.  HE WILL BE IN US, AS JEREMIAH SAID, LIKE “FIRE SHUT UP IN OUR BONES.”
3. WE WILL BE INSPIRED TO ACT BY FAITH ON REALITIES NOT SEEN NATURALLY AS ABRAHAM, JOSEPH, DAVID, PETER, PAUL, AND OTHER GREAT PEOPLE OF GOD DID.
4. WE WILL BE ABLE TO SEE OURSELVES IN A DIFFERENT LIGHT, MORE IN THE WAY GOD SEES US.  WE WILL SEE OUR ABILITIES, OUR GIFTS, AND OUR LIMITATIONS.  WE THEN WILL BE MORE ABLE TO UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH WE NEED GOD IN OUR LIVES TO HELP US REALIZE, ACTUALIZE, AND OPTIMIZE OUR GOD-GIVEN PRESENT AND FUTURE.

THEN, AFTER WE HAVE GOD-GIVEN VISION, WE NEED POWER TO ACT ON THAT VISION.  WHEN WE RECEIVE POWER FROM GOD:

1. WE WILL BE MORE ABLE TO OVERCOME THE ODDS AGAINST US.
2. WE WILL BE SUSTAINED IN DIFFICULT TIME AS SATAN TRIES TO PREVENT US FROM HAVING WHAT GOD HAS FOR US IN THE PRESENT AND IN THE FUTURE.
3. WE WILL BE ABLE TO HELP OTHERS IN MORE MEANINGFUL WAYS AS PETER AND JOHN WHEN GOING TO PRAYER WERE ABLE TO HELP THE CRIPPLED BEGGAR IN TELLING HIM, “MONEY WE DO NOT HAVE, BUT SUCH AS WE HAVE, WE GIVE TO YOU:  IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH, RISE US AND WALK.”
4.  WE WILL HAVE THE BLESSED ASSURANCE THAT WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD WHO CANNOT BE PLUCKED FROM JESUS’ HAND; THAT WE HAVE ETERNAL LIFE NOW BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IN JESUS AND WE LOVE OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS; THAT JESUS IS WITH US NOW IN THE HOLY GHOST AS WE LIVE OUT OUR GOD-GIVEN PRESENT AND FUTURE ON EARTH, MANIFESTING HIMSELF TO US, BUT NOT UNTO THE WORLD; AND THAT WE WILL ONE DAY SEE JESUS AS HE IS, FOR WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM.